I've never heard of a fuel totalizer intended for a motorcycle - and looking at Shadin, it doesn't appear that they make non-aviation units. Putting a TSO'd aviation fuel totalizer in a motorcycle - well, I can think of better things to spend a couple thousand dollars on! A lot of them also run on 28 volts, not the 12 volts your bike has available.

The totalizers are generally intended to go into an aircraft panel, and as such project several inches behind. That would be a challenge to install into a GL1800.

That said, I HAVE installed one in an airplane, so I have some knowledge. Assuming you get the head unit/display in place, the other component is the transducer - basically a tiny turbine that fits into the fuel line and measures fuel flow. It needs a very calm, steady flow of fuel in order to measure accurately, so the fuel line needs to be straight without any curves for several inches in front of and behind the transducer. That might be tough to find in your bike.

Lastly, the transducer might not have the resolution required to measure accurately in a motorcycle. Even the smallest airplane engines use around 6 gallons per hour, and they go up, way up from there. Your bike might use 2 gallons per hour at the most.

tech1 wrote:I'm an auto technition not aircraft so I've never heard of a totalizer. What is it and what does it do and why?Thanks Tech1

A fuel totalizer is a computer that watches your fuel consumption. It has an extremely accurate transducer that is installed on the fuel line, and measures exactly how much fuel is flowing through the line. When you fill up, you reset the totalizer. It knows the size of the tank, and so as fuel is used, it will tell you exactly how much fuel you have remaining. As you can imagine, this is somewhat important in an airplane.

A little known fact: When certifying an airplane, the FAA requires that the fuel gauges are accurate only when there is zero usable fuel remaining - i.e. the gauge accurately displays "E" when the engine will quit. So even if the gauge says half full, it could mean quarter full, 2/3 full, or anything other than empty. Like our Goldwings, aircraft often have weird and convoluted fuel tank shapes, so when measuring the linear level of fuel in the tank (using a float gauge), it doesn't necessarily show the actual amount of fuel remaining. My GL1500 takes 60-70 miles for the needle to come off the "F" peg, and then rapidly accelerates from there.

A fuel totalizer ignores the float level gauge and tells you exactly how much fuel you've used, so you know how much you've got left. Say you're in an airplane and you've come into an unexpected headwind, which has slowed your progress. Your navigation calculations now show that your 4 hour flight is actually going to take 4 hours and 45 minutes. Are you going to have enough fuel to still make your destination with legal reserves? Or will you need to land to refuel? Or you might just need to throttle back a bit in order to reduce fuel consumption. Totalizers will show you this as well - it can show your actual consumption rate, in gallons per hour, so that you can manage your fuel use and make sure you will make your destination.